Investing app Gotrade raises $15.5 million Series A

Gotrade, an investing app that allows users to invest in stocks and ETFs without commissions or hidden fees, has raised $15.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Velocity Capital Fintech Ventures. 

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) , BeeNext, Kibo Ventures, Picus Capitalas well as existing investors LocalGlobe, Social Leverage and Raptor also participated in the round. 

Founded in 2019 by Rohit Mulani, Norman Wanto and David Grant, Gotrade racked up over 500,000 users from over 140 countries in its first year. The company’s investing app lets international users buy fractional shares in global giants on the NYSE and NASDAQ from as little as $1. Gotrade users have transacted over $400 million to date across more than 5 million trades, the company said. 

Gotrade raised a $7 million seed round in 2021 from LocalGlobe and Social Leverage, both early backers of Robinhood. Once it received clearance from the Labuan Financial Services Authority of Malaysia, Gotrade rolled out an invite-only platform in March 2021, launching publicly in September 2021.

The company plans to use the funding to grow its team of 40 and launch localized versions of its app in various markets, starting with Southeast Asia. 

“Investing in Southeast Asia is broken. Over 600 million people can’t access quality investment products at fair prices. They are subject to mutual funds with expense ratios exceeding 5%, savings products like gold with 3% spreads and hidden fees peppered across their portfolios – not just by the incumbents but also by the companies that are meant to be the disruptors. We believe that investing should be fair and users should not have to bear these predatory costs,” said Gotrade founder Rohit Mulani. 

The company also announced the launch of Gotrade Indonesia to allow Indonesian users to invest as little as $1 little in the likes of Tesla, Apple, Netflix et al. on an easy-to-use, commission-free platform.

“Gotrade picked Indonesia as the first market to launch a local version of Gotrade simply because it was there that the problem seemed most pressing with mutual fund fees frequently exceeding 5%,” the company said. 

“Everyone deserves the right to invest in their own future and control their financial destiny, and from the first moment we met Rohit and the fantastic Gotrade team, we knew they would succeed in delivering this power to Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and beyond,” said Velocity’s Montanaro. “Combining a simple, safe and friendly mobile app experience with fractional trading at zero commissions is a proven winning formula around the globe. As experienced investors and operators in this space, we’re thrilled to lead this investment round and excited to support Gotrade through every step of their journey forward,” said Don Montanaro.